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Gateway Motorsports Park

Gateway Motorsports Park
Gateway Motorsports Park logo.jpg
Location 700 Raceway Boulevard
Madison, Illinois 62060
Capacity 78,000
Owner Curtis Francois
Address 700 Raceway Blvd, Madison, IL 62060
Opened 1970 (1970)
Major events Current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, National Hot Rod Association, IndyCar Series, USAC Silver Crown Series, American Drag Racing League
Former: CART, NASCAR Nationwide Series
Oval
Length 2 km (1.25 mi)
Banking Turns 1 & 2 – 11°
Turns 3 & 4 – 9°
Straightaways – 3°
Website www.gatewaymsp.com

Gateway Motorsports Park (formerly Gateway International Raceway) is a race track in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri. After being shuttered by former owner Dover Motorsports Inc. on November 3, 2010, it was announced on September 8, 2011 that the facility would re-open and host an NHRA Full Throttle Series event from September 28–30, 2012. St. Louis real estate developer and former professional racer (INDYCAR Indy Lights) Curtis Francois has signed a one-year lease to run the track. It hosted a NASCAR Nationwide Series event and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on a 1.25-mile (2 kilometer) oval, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) infield Road Course used by SCCA and various car clubs, and also has a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts an annual National Hot Rod Association event. The facilities were owned by Dover Motorsports, a group that also owned what is now Memphis International Raceway, along with Dover International Speedway, and the Nashville Superspeedway.

The first major event held at the facility was a CART series held on Saturday May 24, 1997, the day before the Indy Racing League's Indianapolis 500. Rather than scheduling a race directly opposite the Indy 500 (as they had done in 1996 with the U.S. 500), CART scheduled Gateway the day before to serve as their Memorial Day weekend open-wheel alternative without direct conflict. After a couple years, track management grew increasingly dissatisfied with its apparent use, as seen by some, as a political pawn or statement by CART. This event had poor attendance as fans generally chose to travel to the Indy 500 for the weekend instead. For 2000, the race was moved to the fall. In 2001, it was dropped from the CART series schedule, and switched alliances to the Indy Racing League. After mediocre attendance, the event was dropped altogether after 2003. It was later re-added to the schedule for 2017.


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